Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society

Explore our exhibits and delve into our archives of papers, conversations, photos, oral histories and more.

From the collection

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act “under assault” in 1930.

FINRA donates primary sources on the creation of NASD

Featured Exhibition

Photo credit: Peter Tenzer/Minneapolis Fed

Retrospective: Arthur Levitt

Digital Archives

Oral Histories

Learn from interviews with SEC leaders, staff and other regulatory professionals about issues and rules their organizations grappled with starting in the 1930s.

Conversations

Conversations involve two or more people focused on historical SEC or regulatory topics. Check out their perspectives and experiences.

Historic Papers

Take a deep dive into our collection of nearly 10,000 letters, speeches, reports, notes and other materials about U.S. financial regulation.

This month in 1939...

This week in 1939, the President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Trust Indenture Act, forbidding bond issuers from making public offerings without a formal agreement. SEC Chair William O. Douglas assured Roosevelt that it would make “trustees more active in protection of the interests of security holders.”